By Eetta Prince-Gibson, JTA
• Published April 25, 2012
JERUSALEM—The two seventh-grade girls walk together down the hall, their heads touching as they talk excitedly. Dana’s dark auburn hair is pulled back in a ponytail. Waard’s head is covered by a hijab, the traditional Arab headscarf, held with a...
By Ellen Futterman, Editor
• Published April 25, 2012
Kathy Lebedun will celebrate Mother’s Day a little early when she proudly watches her daughter and personal hero, Laura Lebedun, 28, receive a 2012 American Red Cross Lifesaver Award. The ceremony takes place Friday, May 4 at the Frontenac Hilton. “I...
NEW YORK—Lithuania’s 800-year-old connection to its Jewish population broke down in 1941, when the Nazis invaded the country and murdered nearly all of its 200,000 Jews—often with the complicity of local Lithuanians. This month, 70 years on, Lithuania...
By Ruth Ellen Gruber, JTA
• Published April 20, 2012
NIS, Serbia—In some alternate universe, it might be a Jewish dream: a Jewish cemetery with a restaurant and discount department store on its doorstep. But in this old Serbian town about 125 miles south of the capital of Belgrade, it’s more like a...
Religion and electability No doubt, religion plays a major part in the everyday lives of millions of Americans, and the political arena is no exception. Take this year’s GOP presidential candidates, for example, all of whom are trying to curry favor...
One day while sitting at a table with some friends, a conversation about Jews and the Palestinians was brought up. Somewhere in the soon-to-become-heated debate, a question arose concerning the validity of Jews’ claim to Eretz Yisrael. At that point...
By Ellen Futterman, Editor
• Published April 18, 2012
“Bully,” which is playing at Landmark Plaza Frontenac theaters, is an important film that should be required viewing by middle-and-high schoolers and their parents. I say this not because the movie is great—it isn’t—but because it is a great...
Jewish Federation’s 2012 Community Campaign officially launches this month with the theme, “A Community Thriving. Together.” The annual campaign is the St. Louis Jewish community’s largest ongoing fundraising effort. Funds raised support 60...
TUNIS -- Tucked on a quiet side street blocks from the Mediterranean Sea, the last kosher restaurant in the Tunisian capital is a thriving center of Jewish tradition in a country of 10 million with nearly an entire Arab and Muslim population. Yet Jacob...
By Marc Schneier and Shamsi Ali, JTA
• Published March 26, 2012
NEW YORK—As a rabbi and an imam, we deeply mourn the tragic loss of innocent lives in the murderous terrorist attacks in France. We express our heartfelt sympathy and compassion for the bereaved. Amid the wall-to-wall media coverage of the attacks and...
A co-chairman of Limmud International, Helena Miller, was awarded the Max Fisher Prize for Jewish Education in the Diaspora. Miller is the first British woman chosen to receive the annual prize, which will be presented in Jerusalem in June. he prize is...
JERUSALEM -- Israeli lawmakers from across the political spectrum launched a caucus to strengthen relations with Diaspora Jewry. At least 40 Knesset members have joined the ad hoc committee co-founded by coalition chairman Zeev Elkin of the Likud Party...
